Meeting Bloggers in Real Life

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I’ve been away from the blogs lately as my son recently participated in the Junior Olympics, playing water polo. It so happened that this event was held in San Jose!

Here’s a view of the city from our room.

The eleventh floor. Not bad, huh?

Here’s the roof, the 26th.

We kind of snuck up there and got some free candy. You did not hear about that here.

Trust me, we got a group rate. Without it, I would never be able to afford this place where they nickel and dime you to death, including WiFi at $7.95 per night.

What you don’t see in this picture is that next door to this hotel is the Convention Center, where lo and behold, the BlogHer Convention was being held.

Same city, same weekend. And right next door?

Friends, this is…

Destiny.

Fate.

Kismet.

Soon after I arrived, I wandered over to the convention center, and texted my blogging friends. They were in the “Voices of the Year” event. During the wait, I made some mental notes about BlogHer. Fanciful dresses and shoes were big! I felt a tad underdressed in my shorts. Also, a requirement, a prominent badge worn around each participant’s neck. When asked if I had a badge, I simply nodded and looked away. Who knew meeting my blogging friends would turn out to be a covert operation?

My husband and two kids walked over with me to the convention center. Of course, they all stuck out like a sore thumb, being male, and well, kids, especially since my son snaked some hors d’oeuvres. That, my friends, was the last straw. The security guard promptly questioned my husband, tempers flared, and my husband called the guard an asshole, all in the course of a few minutes. I was shocked. The guard hardly seemed threatening in his pink shirt. I guess he’s not really a guard. Boss man then?

I explained to the boss man that I was about to meet my blogging friends, whom I have known for about two years, and I would be meeting them for the very first time. He looked into my eyes, and we clicked. He understood. He told me I could stay as long as I needed to.

Just a few minutes more and Dawn from Tales from the Motherland came into the lobby. I was immediately gushing with joy. I was so happy to see her. We had never spoken, and have only known each other through our writing. We hugged, and sat down among the life-sized, standing posts, celebrating the “Voices of the Year.” What a place for us to meet! I think if I saw one of my posts in this manner it might be kind of magical. BlogHer did it up right.

Immediately, we relaxed and talked about BlogHer, Friday Fictioneers, writing conferences, the social media factor for writers, and blogging past, present, and future while sipping on champagne and partaking of hors d’oeuvres. It felt like we knew each other for years. It was fun to hear Dawn talk. Our relationship now included audio, another layer, as well as seeing her physically. She has a lot of spunk, and was lovely to talk to.

In a short while, Emily from The Waiting fame emerged into the scene. I spotted her instantly because earlier in the day, I saw what she was wearing in a Facebook status. And there she was in front of me. We embraced and got more champagne. I realized soon that Emily has an accent. Well, of course, she’s from Tennessee. It just never registered. I will forever read her blog now hearing her accent. In all the mixing of selfies and drinking and eating, Emily took time to remark that she liked my writing because it was clean, which I take as a huge compliment coming from Emily. Thank you, Emily.

And, of course, we took photos to preserve the moment.

Selfie anyone? Or is it a grelfie with multiple people? You know, group. (Pictured from L to R: Dawn, Emily, and me.)

Don’t mean to cut off your circulation, Em.

Kylie from the The Life of Kylie came next into our circle, because that is what it soon became and we all hugged and took more selfies. Funny none of our phones had much battery power, and my phone eventually ran out of juice. Kylie was just as I pictured her, warm and genuine.

I felt bubbly inside talking to my blogging friends in real life. My only regret about our meeting was that it was much too short. Dawn, Emily, and Kylie are incredibly talented writers, and all Freshly Pressed multiple times. Emily and Kylie were both given nods for the “Voices of the Year” at BlogHer. If you haven’t met them be before, you must go to their blogs and visit.

The four bloggerteers: Dawn, Kylie, Emily and me. You can see the life-sized “Voices of the Year” posts in the background.

Ladies, it was an honor to meet all of you. I hope it won’t be the last time we see each other. It was a special day, and I’m so happy I can call you my friends.

OMG! I am so jealous! Between you and Aussa talking all about your adventures and getting to meet real live bloggers we talk to on a (sometimes) daily basis! Maybe I can come next year! What a treat that it worked out for you to do both.. I believe it was Destiny! Fate! And Kismet! 🙂

Yes, the JO report! I had so many photos I could have put up, but didn’t want to drive people crazy with it all. It was a good time! We played Greenwich, CT for our first and last game. They were such a nice team.

That’s so cool you met someone, too. You write for long to each other, it sometimes feels like it will never happen that you will talk to each other. Wow, and running a half together. Now that is special.

Great that you met all those bloggers in the end. It must be cool meeting someone that you have never met…but feel like you know, if you know what I mean. It couldn’t have gone better if you had planned it.

Yes, I do know what you mean. My impressions of them went far off at all. It’s like we already knew each other. Aww, the power of words. We kind of planned it. They knew I was coming, but it felt very impromptu nonetheless.

As I’ve gushed on FB, meeting you guys was THE best part of the weekend! I wrote a post on the way home, but have been overwhelmed with “getting home stuff,” and some family stuff that I’ll clarify later. Look for my BlogHer post later today/tomorrow…. What a wonderful weekend! What wonderful friends to find, and finally meet!

Awwww, that’s the sweetest you could possibly say, Dawn! I understand about being overwhelmed. I hear you. It’s hard to get back after such a trip, and add to that all your traveling. Your lakeside retreat looked perfect.

We didn’t get back until Tuesday. Wednesday I was good for nothing! Likewise, I gushed as well. I only regret that it wasn’t longer and that I couldn’t join you for dinner. I’ll have to fill you in about that. Anyway, it just won’t be the last time, that’s all! We will see each other again. 🙂

Hi Amy 😀 What a fantastic coincidence and to meet 3 other bloggeresses must have been wonderful. I have met 4 bloggers inc. Manny, a teddy bear, who blogs and all of them were a wonderful experience for me. I hope we meet one day. Ralph xox ❤

Nice to meet them through your eyes, Amy, and you as well. I love meeting fellow bloggers, too. Tomorrow and Saturday I’m telling about meeting Sandra Crook and her husband. Isn’t it fun? (Enjoyed your water polo photos on FB, too.)

You and Dawn both have been doing quite a lot of traveling, right? That’s great you got to meet Sandra. I will definitely be by to read that! Thanks. I have a lot more water polo pictures I could share. Maybe I’ll put a few more up. It was great fun, although a little exhausting. 5:45 am call was a bit early.

Shock!! Male testosterone exposing its seamy underbelly at the BlogHer Convention!! There’s a story here.

There are a group of bloggers I would love to meet in person. In my dream world, we find a centralized location and get together for an incredible meal that lasts for hours as we sit together in introverted silence.

Never been to a blogging convention, let alone BlogHer. There’s a local Sacramento Blogging group. Every time I get an email about one of their meetups I think of going and then don’t. Not sure why — it’s probably that introversion thing. If I went that would require me to actually talk to strangers.

I’d like that. I’m always interested in meeting bloggers. I prefer the small group kind of meeting over the big get-togethers. There’s another local blogger … Olivia O’Bryon … I met through her blog and we eventually met in person to discuss writing, family, and life. She just gave birth to her first child so it’s kind of neat having made that connection with her.

That’s cool! It’s nice to connect with someone. I don’t know Olivia. I will look her up. Just let me know when you have some time. We can make this happen! I think only bloggers really understand blogging.

Well hi, Patti. We did plan days before the conference when I read on their blogs that they would be there. I had no idea it would coincide with the Junior Olympics. That I didn’t plan. 🙂 Hotel views were nice. I’m not used to hotels with more than three stories.

Honestly, I don’t know what I would do if I actually met all those gravatars in person!! Too wild. And to actually hear the voices of all the people you’ve been reading and hearing only in your head… sigh. Too awesome. So glad you all are taking the time to bring us along with photos and writing. Because from far-away-land seeing your faces right there next to each other is both an amazing surprise and an of-course moment. I’m surprised to see your gravatars combined into a single real photo (!!!) and on the other hand, you all live together on my computer screen anyway, so of course you’d all hang out together.
Thank you for sharing!

Gravatars in person. That’s funny! I think we all must have a little image of people as their gravatar after a while. It was cool to hear the actual voices. It adds a whole new layer to things. Now we are one gravatar, at least in this post. 🙂 It’s funny, too, because as you take these photos you know they will end up in our blogs or other social media. It seems to be something people do now, but now that I’ve experienced it, I can say, yes…it is something that I did! It was all very fun. My pleasure. I’m glad you enjoyed it, Jen.

Amy – Let me know, I will reach out few TV sources. I will be gladly help you. It will be fun and easy. Here is my new piano melody ” Dalia

The Lyrics:

I see your name put on that cover in the magazine, whoa, whoa
I really think that you’re the best picture in the screen, whoa, whoa
I’ll make a wish, to see your sun
To make my life, to become true
I have your voice, in my ears
It’s clear like glass, please end my tears

The special one thing most like in my dreams, whoa,
I’ll never give up for the last moment on the scene, whoa
I’ll make a wish, to see your sun
To make my life, to become true
I have your voice, in my ears
It’s clear like glass, please end my tears

This place didn’t even have a refrigerator. I thought all places came with that. My friend’s daughter needed a fridge for her medication, and she would have had to pay for it. I thought, in that case, they really should have made an exception!

I bet you do have a lot of meet-ups in NY. How lucky for all the people who pass through. Right, we’re all just people, probably with many of the same problems.

I wonder about that, too. I wonder if there are more woman bloggers. I’m sure there must be stats out there! I feel like my audience is split down the middle, but it’s not like I ever tested it out.

How wonderful that you were able to meet these terrific ladies. I’m sure that must be a surreal experience. We get to know bloggers through their words and a static picture or two, but seeing them in person–hearing their voices, seeing their facial expressions–well, that must be very cool! (And terrifying for an introvert like me…)

It was wonderful, Carrie. The nice thing is that there is a certain comfort level from just having shared our online words. I definitely have an added dimension to them meeting them face-to-face. It was a lot of fun! Even being introverted, I’m a little shy too, you get over it quick!

Ahh such fun! I’ve met one other blogger in real and we met under a different circumstance without realising, and then later he left a message on my blog saying that he knew I was familiar when he met me and then later realised it was because he was a follower of my blog! How funny is that! I wasn’t following his blog at the time so he hadn’t seemed familiar to me. I’ve met him again since because he gave me a part in a short film he was directing locally (not the film that you’ve seen the preview of). Anyway, I’m also going to meet another blogger next month that I’m excited about, she’s from the states and making a trip to England but I don’t want to name her because she specifically doesn’t want to say publicly that her home will be empty for a while! So I’ll mention it on my blog afterwards instead (I’m not actually sure if she’s one that you follow anyway).

Isn’t that funny! And what good luck that this blogging friend was a film connection. Very good, indeed, when that happens. Usually, people know when they meet a blogger they follow. I bet there are many people in my vicinity who are bloggers, and yet I don’t know them. Maybe even someone on my block is a WordPress blogger! It’s fun to make the real life connection. I’m glad you got the chance. I hope you have a great time with your mysterious visitor. 🙂

Amy, I’ve often wondered what a Blogher convention would be like. Thanks for explaining it in great detail. I love the fact that you were so bold with the boss man. You clearly broke down his wall and made some incredible memories!

Anka, so good to see you! BlogHer looks like a lot of fun and a way to connect with bloggers, because bloggers know bloggers better than anyone. Maybe I’ll do it someday, although if it is always the same week, I will probably be with my son at his Junior Olympics. For the moment, I’m just happy to blog at all!

Good thing Boss Man let you hang around! How cool is it to meet other bloggers. I’ve never been to any convention, but I’ve met a few here in Maine and it’s incredible to put a face and voice to the blog.

It was a strange thing, Darla, because I didn’t attend the convention. I was there for my son’s water polo Junior Olympics. It was a total stroke of luck. That’s cool you got a chance to match voice and face to blog! It’s nice to connect and a rare thing for me.

I was there and the highlight for me was definitely meeting other bloggers in person! I’m glad you got to meet some of your favorites even if you didn’t attend. Good for you! Maybe I’ll meet you at the next one if you decide to be the official BlogHer crasher. 😉

Oh, I didn’t know you were going to be there! Honestly, Leah, it was so quick. I did see your life-size post there. Congrats on being a Voice of the Year. What an honor! This convention coincided with my son’s tournament. If BlogHer keeps the same week, I don’t know if I’ll be able to attend a convention. I know my son’s Junior Olympics will always fall during this week. Who knows though. I’d love to meet someday, if not at a BlogHer, then somewhere else. 🙂 Did you enjoy the convention? Would you go again?

It was my first time to attend. It was great and I really enjoyed meeting other bloggers because I truly felt like I took more away from my conversations with them than I did some of the sessions. We just moved to New Hope, PA so I’m going to look into other blogging/writing conferences in the area as well. The best thing was coming home all fired up to write and put myself out there! You should try other conferences if BlogHer’s schedule doesn’t work for you. Maybe we can meet at another one someday! 🙂